130 participants at the photo competition awards ceremony

All audiences

Monday, 15 April we had the pleasure of welcoming alumni, international students, businesses and associations for the Francophone photo contest evening.

Photo contest award ceremony

From 15 March to 5 April, Campus France and France Alumni organised a photo contest for current and former international students in France, asking them to visually capture their definition of "La Francophonie" accompanied by a French expression. We received over 200 contributions! Congratulations to the participants!

After the opening of the ceremony by Béatrice KHAIAT, General Director of Campus France, and Bernard CERQUIGLINI, Honorary Rector of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, we awarded the prizes to the 7 winners:

1st prize: Akram Hecini
"Au pied de la lettre" which is literally "at the bottom of the letter", but means to follow something to the letter or literally

2nd prize: Cindy Morales
"Avec des 'si' on mettrait Paris en bouteille" meaning "if we could have put Paris in a bottle"

3rd prize: N/C

4th prize: Kristina Berkut
"La francophonie n’en fait pas des caisses" meaning "Francophonie is no small matter"

5th prize: Alexandru Apetroe
"À mes heures perdues" meaning "In my spare time" but perhaps a little modestly or sarcastically!

6th prize: Fifi Kébé
"Avoir le cœur sur la main" which generally means to be big hearted...

7th prize: Ana Godeiro
"Le bruit du silence" or "The sound of silence"

Francophone cross perspectives "The French language: culture, education and employment"

After the awards, we had the pleasure of welcoming five speakers who spoke about the "La Francophonie" and the French language as the language of culture, education and employment. We had an excellent, rich and constructive discussion on the role of the French language in the world.

Speakers:

Bernard CERQUIGLINI, Honorary Rector of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, Member of OuLiPo and presenter on TV5Monde
Marianne CONDE SALAZAR, Director of International Relations for Education and French Business, Paris Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Muriel CORDIER, Head of the Department of Intelligence, Innovation, Foresight at the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)
Pascal SANCHEZ, Head of the Department of Development and Communication (CIEP)
Irina MULUILE, alumni and actress (notably in the series Bureau des Légendes)

Cocktail dinner, music, and networking

Finally, we listened to Edikan Okon, a Nigerian alumni, who sang Heroes by Mariah Carey. After this wonderful musical interlude, the group "Jazz lovers" played while the participants took a moment to network!

A big thank you to the 130 participants and speakers!